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Friday, January 25, 2013

real food series: cocoa crunch balls

There really is nothing nicer than being gifted homemade food, don't you think. All the time and effort that goes into making something from scratch is really the ultimate in my books.

A dear friend made a little tub of these chocolately crunchy treats for us for Christmas and they didn't last long in our fridge. Melissa kindly offered to share the recipe, so here it is. Now I couldn't help myself and added a little coconut oil...... given the sweetness from the medjool dates, the addition of a good saturated fat will help any major blood sugar spikes.

Let's begin1. Gather and prep all ingredients - including removing pips from the dates2. Place dates in a food processor and processor until they form a paste3. Next add in the macadamia nuts, cocoa powder, coconut oil, vanilla bean powder/extract and salt and process until you are happy with consistency. I like to leave it with a little texture (so that the macadamia nuts do not form a smooth paste)4. Finally add cocoa nibs. These add a really nice crunch, however if you are making for children I would leave them out (due to the caffeine).5. Roll one heaped teaspoon into balls, place in glass jars and store in the fridge.